General Discussions => Spirituality => Atheism => Topic started by: Anatta on August 26, 2011, 01:19:47 AM Return to Full Version

Title: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: Anatta on August 26, 2011, 01:19:47 AM
Kia Ora,

::) "In God We Trust " on the US currency...So what do American atheists use for money[ so as not to feel like hypocrites]  ? ;) ;D

Metta Zenda :)
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: Steph on August 26, 2011, 01:23:54 AM
The heathens use Monopoly money :D :D
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: Anatta on August 26, 2011, 01:39:52 AM
Quote from: Steph on August 26, 2011, 01:23:54 AM
The heathens use Monopoly money :D :D

Kia Ora Steph,

::) Isn't the American dollar Monopoly money anyway ?  ;) :D

Metta Zenda :)
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: Steph on August 26, 2011, 01:51:00 AM
Quote from: Zenda on August 26, 2011, 01:39:52 AM
Kia Ora Steph,

::) Isn't the American dollar Monopoly money anyway ?  ;) :D

Metta Zenda :)

Well in Canada we do.  Just kidding folks [Ducking and running]  :D
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: Anatta on August 26, 2011, 01:55:16 AM
Quote from: Steph on August 26, 2011, 01:51:00 AM
Well in Canada we do.  Just kidding folks [Ducking and running]  :D

Kia Ora Steph,

::) I see...so they all move to Canada or use Canadian dollars...Um makes sense...

Metta Zenda :)
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: apple pie on August 26, 2011, 02:42:20 AM
I think it must have been put there by a Chinese American, and it refers to the god of wealth :P http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/607569/Cai-Shen (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/607569/Cai-Shen)
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: Cindi Jones on August 26, 2011, 03:03:49 AM
Money? What is money? I use my computer to push bits of data from here to there. When I'm at the store, I use plastic. I never touch the stuff..... it's dirty! ;)
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: justmeinoz on August 26, 2011, 05:07:57 AM
Given the way the American Dollar has been going, maybe God is not impressed?

Karen.
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: tekla on August 26, 2011, 05:44:47 AM
"In God We Trust " on the US currency...So what do American atheists use for money[ so as not to feel like hypocrites]

Well it says "In God We Trust" but the second part of that (that they left off the money) is:  All Others Pay Cash.
I've always thought what our money should say is:
Anything worth doing, is worth doing for money.  But no one ever listens to me.


And there is no picture of god, just Dead Presidents, the big ones, 1- Washington, 2- Jefferson, 5-Lincoln, 20- Jackson, 50 - Grant, for the most part, but a few weirdos like 100 - Ben Franklin (real famous, not a president and 10 - Alexander Hamilton (invented money as American knows it) make appearances also. 
We have weird ones:
The high-denomination bills were issued in a small size in 1929, along with the $1 through $100 denominations. The designs were as follows:
$500: William McKinley (Assassinated - so very dead president)
$1,000: Grover Cleveland (obscure at best dead president)
$5,000: James Madison (OK, wrote most of the Constitution, also dead, also a president)
$10,000: Salmon P. Chase (Sec of Treasury under Lincoln, Supreme Court Justice - and I don't know why he's got a bill.)
$100,000: Woodrow Wilson (highly controversial dead president)

But I've only seen a 500 once, and never any of the others.  I think you have to go to the Federal Reserve Bank to get them.
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: justmeinoz on August 26, 2011, 05:49:49 AM
The pictures on our notes change every so often. I'm sure one of them had a picture of an historic country town on it.  With the pub smack in the middle of the picture.  Much more appropriate than some dead bloke!! ;D

Karen.
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: Adio on August 26, 2011, 09:19:34 AM
Randomly saw this thread and had to laugh at this:

Quote from: Zenda on August 26, 2011, 01:39:52 AM
Kia Ora Steph,

::) Isn't the American dollar Monopoly money anyway ?  ;) :D

Metta Zenda :)

I don't consider myself an atheist anymore, but I used to mark out the "In God We Trust" on bills with a sharpie.  Pretty sure it's illegal, but I did it anyway.  That was years ago though and now I primarily use a debit card.
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: Lisbeth on August 26, 2011, 09:58:24 AM
Quote from: tekla on August 26, 2011, 05:44:47 AM
And there is no picture of god, just Dead Presidents,
No, no. You've got it all wrong. There's no picture of god on the money because money IS god for Americans. When it says, "In God We Trust," it's just saying that you should trust that piece of paper in your hand.
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: xXRebeccaXx on August 26, 2011, 12:51:49 PM
I pay for everything in blood.
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: LifeInNeon on August 26, 2011, 02:21:11 PM
I still get pissed about that being our national motto. We have so many more appropriate things it could have been, and there's now one ridiculous Supreme Court ruling that has said it's a phrase that has been secularized by non-denominational usage, so it's not going anywhere without congress. And good luck being the senator who runs against God. >.<
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: tekla on August 26, 2011, 03:37:00 PM
There's no picture of god on the money because money IS god for Americans.

Sounds good to me, works even.  After all, both are fictions created out of whole cloth and sustained by everyone 'believing' and little else.
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: Anatta on August 26, 2011, 04:12:41 PM
Kia Ora,

"On July 11, 1954, just one month after the phrase "under God" was incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance, the U.S. Congress enacted Public Law 84-140, which required the motto on all coins and currency. The law was approved by President Eisenhower on July 30, 1956, and the motto was progressively added to paper money over a period from 1957 to 1966.
In 1956 the phrase was legally adopted as the United States' national motto by a law passed by the 84th United States Congress.(Public Law 84-851)", and the United States Code at 36 U.S.C. ยง 302, now states: "'In God we trust' is the national motto."
The motto was first challenged in Aronow v. United States in 1970, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled: "It is quite obvious that the national motto and the slogan on coinage and currency 'In God We Trust' has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion. Its use is of patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise."


It's strange when you look at the back of a US twenty dollar bill where the White House bears an uncanny resemblance to a place of worship and above it the words "In God We Trust!"  ;) :D

Metta Zenda :)
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: tekla on August 26, 2011, 04:24:24 PM
The White House does not look like a church, at least churches in America.
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: Anatta on August 26, 2011, 04:34:53 PM
Quote from: tekla on August 26, 2011, 04:24:24 PM
The White House does not look like a church, at least churches in America.

Kia Ora Tek,

::) "The White House bears an uncanny resemblance to a place of worship!"

Metta Zenda :)
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: VeryGnawty on August 28, 2011, 02:32:57 PM
I think we need to change the motto to "In Pasta We Trust"

Personally, I trust the omnipotent god of pasta about as much as I trust any other god.  The only significant difference is that I can prove that pasta actually exists.  And, it is tasty.  What has any other religion given us, apart from holy books and "morality" which is outdated by at least a millenium?
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: tekla on August 28, 2011, 02:36:44 PM
Someone beat you to it, see: Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
http://www.venganza.org/ (http://www.venganza.org/)
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: AudreyH on September 07, 2011, 02:09:15 PM
Honestly, I find it a touch redundant to even ask if America is a god-centric country. Of course it is, a good fraction of America is due to religion and solely that. Both the Great Awakenings and the Cold War only strengthened this, particularly in modern times the Cold War. America v. Soviets, Religion v. Irreligion. As mentioned, the phrase In God We Trust was plastered on everything despite its obvious challenges to secularism. And of course let's not forget that the right-wing has made just about every social argument an argument about religion, even though in the eyes of the US Government the bible and every other religious text is non-existant in its realm. Thankfully, since the Cold War has ended, America has been going the way of Europe and steadily *truly* secularizing. My generation is the least religious generation to ever exist on US soil, and I only see the apathy/doubt increasing as time passes, to be honest.
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: Lisbeth on September 07, 2011, 03:04:32 PM
Quote from: Goodlowe on September 07, 2011, 02:09:15 PM
Thankfully, since the Cold War has ended, America has been going the way of Europe and steadily *truly* secularizing.
Don't count on it. The right wing is resurrecting the Russian Boogeyman. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2547352/posts (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2547352/posts)
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: AudreyH on September 07, 2011, 03:45:49 PM
Quote from: Lisbeth on September 07, 2011, 03:04:32 PM
Don't count on it. The right wing is resurrecting the Russian Boogeyman. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2547352/posts (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2547352/posts)
Yeah, but people from Free Republic don't have the tightest grasp on reality most times, they are more right-wing than the average tea partier usually. I know myself and my peers couldn't care less about the occasional Russian spy story. And I don't really think that affects our secularist view on the world, but I dunno perhaps it could in the future unfortunately.
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: VeryGnawty on September 07, 2011, 04:44:30 PM
Quote from: tekla on August 28, 2011, 02:36:44 PM
Someone beat you to it, see: Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
http://www.venganza.org/ (http://www.venganza.org/)

The Sauce is strong with this one.
Title: Re: "In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?
Post by: treeworshipper on October 09, 2011, 11:53:52 PM
America is a love centric country!!!


America = Love = Freedom = Whatever you want